Oil prices rise amid OPEC-led output cut last week

"Amid easing trade tension and a weaker USA dollar, crude oil prices rallied after Saudi Arabia reassured the market that its production cuts would remain in place", ANZ bank said on Thursday.

On Friday, oil prices dropped, snapping its consecutive rally for nine days, weighed down by the rising greenback and sliding energy stocks due to concerns caused by the ongoing USA government shutdown.

Markets were supported by hopes that an all-out trade war between Washington and Beijing might be averted.

Wall Streetended little changed on Friday, taking a breather following a five-day winning streak, while the dollar rebounded against most currencies from earlier losses tied to expectations the us central bank is in no hurry to raise interest rates.

On Wednesday, a clutch of U.S. Federal Reserve officials said they would be cautious about any further increases in interest rates so that the central bank could assess growing risks to an otherwise-solid U.S. economic outlook. The markets have had their day, they have pushed the Federal Reserve to work towards a sort of concerted patience stance.

Global benchmark Brent crude traded at $59.36 per barrel at 0645 GMT with a 1.3 percent gain after it closed Tuesday at $58.61 a barrel.

Crude oil's rally is starting to sweep away the pessimists.

Prices of Brent, West Texas Intermediate, WTI, and OPEC Basket of 14 crudes stood at $60.00, $59.91 and $56.11 per barrel respectively.

USA crude prices finished the week up 7.6 percent, their best showing in six months.

Indeed, Bloomberg noted that hedge funds this week slashed bets on falling Brent crude prices to the lowest level since mid-November, and wagers on increasing prices climbed the most in a month; the ICE Futures Europe exchange on Friday also reported that Brent net-long positions climbed 3.8 percent to 158,146 options and futures contracts in the week ending January 8.

Khalid al-Falih said he would not rule out calling for further action in future, if needed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 5.97 points, or 0.02 percent, to 23,995.95, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.38 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,596.26 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 14.59 points, or 0.21 percent, to 6,971.48. "That's really good for the cost of money and taking some further headwinds out of the USA dollar", he said.

Investors remained concerned about a slew of recent economic data that has raised worries about a global economic slowdown.

CURRENCIES: The dollar eased to 108.38 yen from 108.43 yen late Thursday. WTI was recorded as $51.75 a barrel at the same time marking a 0.8 percent loss, after closing the previous session at $52.17 per barrel.

Against a basket of six major rivals, the dollar was 0.1 percent lower after falling as low as 95.116 .DXY , its lowest since October 17, during the previous session.

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